Zack (Cold Fury Hockey 3)

"I do," she says with a laugh as she turns away and heads out of the bedroom. "I really do."

Chapter 22

Kate

Zack does not screw around.

He made an offer on the house the same day that we looked at it. He made such a good offer, the sellers took it. They also were more than happy to have Zack move in immediately in exchange for rent. The closing wouldn't take place for another month, but Zack was anxious to get that fresh start.

I'm thinking that he might be a little too anxious. He wants the move to happen next Wednesday. This is because the last game of the regular season was last night, and the Cold Fury has six days off until the first playoff game.

To facilitate matters, Zack hired a moving company to assist in the packing. They were in charge of packing all the breakables, which included pretty much everything in the kitchen as well as all the pictures and knickknacks throughout the house. That put me in charge of packing up everything else.

This I did not mind. If it took the burden off Zack to let him concentrate on hockey, then I was more than happy to pitch in. I also didn't mind, because I could see how excited he was to make this move. He had no intention of leaving Gina behind, but he also very much wanted to push forward.

Zack had a few people who he needed to tell about the move. He first called Gina's parents and explained to them what he was doing. He talks to them a few times a week when they call to talk to Ben. They have a pretty good relationship with one another, as far as I can tell. I clearly wasn't privy to the conversation, but Zack told me that it went well.

Phone calls were also made to his own parents, who thought that selling the house was a good idea. Delaney was also on board, and she even promised to fly in next weekend to help get everything unpacked.

Pretty much everything is done and ready for the move to happen tomorrow. The only thing left to do is pack up Ben's toys, but I wanted to put that off until the last minute so that he would have access to them. But now Ben is over at Michelle's, playing with Beau. She showed up on the front doorstep a few days ago politely ringing the doorbell and asking to talk to Zack. He came to the front door and I stealthily listened from the living room.

She apologized.

She told him she was wrong.

Zack graciously accepted her apology and everything seemed to be okay now.

The only wrinkle in the grand plan to get everything packed up was Zack's bedroom. I've been in there before, because I keep the house clean. It's nice. It totally reflects Gina's taste, in my opinion. Pastel green walls, a lacy comforter on the bed, and large framed photos of flowers on the wall. Zack asked me to pack up his room for him, and that was no surprise there. When we were walking through just before he was going to be leaving for an away game, he stared at the closet in consternation.

"I don't know what to do with Gina's clothes," he said quietly. I knew they were in there. Had seen them plenty of times when I was putting away Zack's laundry. I imagine that it has to be super-tough to get rid of something so personal, and I figure he'll do it when he's good and ready.

"If you're not sure deep in your gut, we need to just pack them up and take them with us," I told him.

He turned to look at me gratefully and nodded.

And so I packed up all of Gina's clothes to take with us. That was hard, I will admit. Packing up your lover's dead lover's clothes. Not that I begrudged Zack that. I don't have a single ounce of jealousy over his feelings for Gina. There is no time frame by which you stop mourning a lost love, in my humble opinion.

I start with Ben's dresser, pulling out all of his clothes and laying them on the bed. I make sure they're all folded neatly and organized before I put them in a box. This will make it easier on me when I go to unpack it.

The doorbell rings and I hear Zack yell up to me, "I'll get it."

I snicker. Zack has obviously not been much help with the packing. Granted, he played two hockey games this week. Thus I have to give him a pass. But today he's just walking around looking utterly lost, so I put him on the task of packing up the electronics in the basement.

I start to pack all of Ben's clothing, and then I'm digging through his toy chest, trying to figure out the most economical way to pack all of it up.

"Someone sent you flowers," I hear from the doorway, and raise my head to see Zack standing there with a bouquet.

Happiness bubbles within me when I see the bright yellow bowl filled with white and yellow daisies, my favorite. I jump up from the floor and walk over to take the flowers from Zack. I don't need to read the card to know who they're from. I've been expecting them today.

I give a quick sniff of the flowers, loving the peppery smell of the daisies. Then I set the bowl on Ben's dresser so I can pull the card off and open it.

My eyes scan quickly, Happy birthday, Pumpkin. Love Daddy.

"So sweet," I murmur as I put the card back in the envelope.

"Are you going to tell me who the flowers are from?" Zack says, his voice sounding oddly cold and detached.

I look over at him and see that he's...angry? I start laughing, because I can't help it. The man who doesn't want to succumb to feelings is freaking jealous I got flowers?

I give him a sympathetic look. "They're from my daddy."

Immediate relief fills his eyes and he smiles sheepishly at me. "What's the occasion?"

"My birthday," I tell him as I turn around and head back toward the toy chest.

"Your birthday?" Zack says in a stunned voice.

"Yup."

"It's your birthday today?" Zack asks again.

"Asking twice won't get me to change my answer," I tell him with a chuckle.

I busy myself pulling the toys out of the chest to place in a packing box. Zack is silent for a moment and then he walks farther into the room.

"How come you didn't tell me?" he asks softly, almost with a hurt voice.

I lift my gaze to his and blink at him in surprise. Why would I tell him? He's made it clear that there's nothing between us but sex. A birthday celebration or acknowledgment would be crossing that boundary that Zack set, and I didn't want him to be put in an uncomfortable situation. I also didn't want to be hurt when it was ignored.

And the only way I can get hurt is if I have feelings for Zack, which clearly I do. I may be respecting Zack's boundaries, but it doesn't mean I don't yearn for something more. A deeper connection. Maybe some care and true affection. Every day that passes by, I feel my feelings growing, which also means my capacity for hurt and pain is growing as well. I'm afraid of what may be coming down the road and I wonder to myself often if I should end this. But then I take one look at Zack and I know I can't.

"I'm sorry," I say quietly. "I didn't think it was important."

Several things flash through his eyes...all in succession. I recognize each of them. Shame, annoyance, regret, then acceptance.

"I see," he says thoughtfully.

Then he turns around and walks out the door.

Shrugging, I get back to work packing up the rest of Ben's toys.

--

It ends up taking me far longer to pack up Ben's room than I had anticipated, because I had forgotten that his closet was packed with a bazillion pounds of clothes and more toys. His clothing was outdated, and by that I mean he had outgrown the stuff in there. Apparently, Zack would throw stuff that didn't fit Ben in the closet and just buy new stuff. I had to go through each piece, make sure he couldn't wear it anymore, then pack up boxes to Goodwill as well. As soon as I can take a shower to wash off the grime and sweat of the work I did today, I will borrow Zack's car and run the donated clothes over to the drop-off center.

"Kate...Daddy needs your help and says come down into the kitchen," Ben says from the doorway, one hand holding on to the doorknob and the other holding a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle.

"Hey, Booger Butt," I say with a smile. "When did you get back?"

"Just now," he says. "Daddy came over to get me at Michelle'

s."

"Okay," I tell him as I push up off the floor where I had been taping the boxes shut. "I'm going to get a shower really quick and then I'll be down."

Ben grins and then turns to run back downstairs. I hear his little feet stomping down the back staircase and he yells, "Kate's coming after she takes a shower."

I smile and push the last box I just packed up against the wall. As I exit Ben's room, Zack calls up the stairs, "Kate...can you come down right now?"

"Is the house on fire?" I yell back as I walk to my room.

"No," he answers in exasperation.

"Is anyone in danger of dying in the next fifteen minutes?"

"No." Then a huff of annoyance filters up.

"Then you can wait fifteen minutes for me to shower," I yell back down. "I've been busting my booty up here all day and I'm tired and hot. I need a shower."

Silence, then a muttered, "Fine."